Awaken To a Nightmare, Child
by AllyKiwi
Summary: When Nea opened his eyes to his old friend's mindscape for the first time in almost thirty years, he expected something more familiar. Instead, he saw ruin.
1. Prolugue

_** Prologue: Nea's Awakening**_

When Nea opened his eyes to his old friend's mindscape for the first time in almost thirty years, he expected something more familiar. Instead, he saw ruin. If he was right, it was the mansion broken to pieces underneath him. The old tree him and Mana used to play in was dead, almost nothing but hollow twigs, and the tall grass was wilted, pale yellow and crunching with his every step.

There was something new, as well. A pond? He stepped closer to it. The water was dark, yet he could see something beyond it. It wasn't the pond's bed. There were more dead trees and a moon so large and dark it seemed it could engulf him. The sight beyond the pond was almost as dreary as his ruined home.

He took a closer look. Where was Allen? If this was Allen's mindscape, then why hasn't he seen his old friend yet?

Nea took a deep breath, worry gnawing at his gut like maggots.

Seeing this, everything in ruin, did not bode well. He ran a hand through his hair, foot tapping nervously in the dead grass.

Would he be beyond the pond? The only way to know would be to go. Nea took a few steps forward, now standing at the edge of the water. He slowly walked in, anxiety heavy in his steps.

One step forward.

Then one more.

Two.

And on the next was a drop. He fell into the deep water, unable to swim back up.

The water around him was ice cold and stung like needles.

He went down

down

down

And further still. It was ink black around him and he could feel grief set heavy on his chest, a feeling not his own, and he choked on the cold. Bubbles rose from his mouth and nose, and the grief grew heavier. It was no longer just the water that felt suffocating. He felt warm tears sting his eyes and a sense of dread hit him. What was he going to face?

The bubbles coming from him changed direction and started downward. He could see a pinhole of light growing larger, and the dread sank deeper in the pit of his stomach.

He flipped over, facing the inexplicably large moon. There was pressure in his ears as he came closer. Soon, he reached the surface.

Nea coughed and spluttered, air entering his lungs after what felt like an eternity. The other side of the pond was more dreary than he had expected. There was nothing but white, gray, and black all around him. This monochrome world was not easy to look at.

Disorienting might be the better word.

And still, no sign of Allen.

Nea pulled himself from the water onto the shore, another cough coming from his throat.

It was mostly the same as he saw above; dead trees, snow, a few scattered ruins here and there, and almost nothing else. He stood on shaky feet, the not-his grief still weighing heavily on him. He lifted his head up once again and made the trek forward.

The world shook around him. Nea stumbled on his next step and saw white falling from the sky. His steps crunched it beneath his feet. It sounded odd compared to normal snow. He scooped up a handful, watching as it fell through his fingers like sand.

These were ashes.

He steadied himself, walking forward once again as the trembling ceased. The amount of ruins grew the further in he went. It seemed more like a pathway than random scattering. Soon, he reached the center.

And in the center, on top of a pile of ruins neatly stacked in the shape of a chair, sat a child with white hair, a horrible gash in his left eye, and the most haunted expression on his small face.

* * *

Hello! It's been, what? 2, 3 years? I'm not gonna lie, I kinda lost a lot of my motivation in writing fanfic. Or stories in general (though I have been attempting. I even tried to make a comic for an oct on deviant art last year! Though, that fell through. Still need a lot of practice.) But, I've been getting back into it recently. Hopefully enough to finish a work. I don't have this planned out yet, it was just a burst of inspiration this time, but I'm attempting to get it somewhere, and I'm really happy with this prologue! I hope y'all enjoy it, too. Thank you for reading! ^u^

-allykiwi out!


	2. Chapter 1

**_Chapter 1: The Silent Child_**

"Hey, kid. Who are you?"

Nea recieved no response.

Nea approached slowly. Blood was flowing down the boy's face. The gash was deep and didn't seem likely to stop anytime soon.

His one eye was hollow and staring at the ground. His right hand hooked around his knees, holding them to his chin, while his left hung limp at his side, only twitching in pain every so often. It was difficult to look at him without feeling guilty, like you've intruded on a private, grieving moment.

Nea looked at the child a little closer. The boy didn't respond. He waved his hand in his face, nothing still. He poked and prodded at him and not a single action garnered a response from the mystery child.

Sighing, Nea sat beside the chair made of rubble and stared at the kid, trying to figure him out. He idly wondered what was going on in the real world to make the child like this. And where was Allen when he needed him? Better yet, why the hell was he with this little kid to begin with?

"The weirdest part of this", Nea mused, "is that the noah memories haven't surfaced. Why is that? Who are you?"

The child stared at nothing with one hollow eye. The other was still bleeding profusely.

"Looks pretty bad, kid. If it weren't for the fact this place doesn't actually exist, I'd hand you something for it..." Nea stared at the boy a little longer, waiting for a response.

"Nothin, huh? Alright, kid. You might know where Allen's at, so I'll wait."

And the wait was excrutiatingly boring.

Nea did a lot while he waited. Carved drawings on trees, moved pieces of rubble around, put his bowtie over the kid's eye to staunch the bleeding, slept. He slept a lot. More than he'd like to admit.

Who knew being reincarnated in your friend's mind would be so boring and exhausting?

He did. He knew. Not that that changed anything.

It was very quiet around him. Not even bugs or birds made any noise. It was barren. Kinda spooky for Nea's tastes, but he wasn't about to judge.

Nea sat at a tree a little ways from the boy on the rubble and shut his eyes once more.

When he opened his eyes, it was to utter chaos. Which was definitely fitting for the Noah Of Destruction. Seeing as the earth was rumbling under him, ready to go off, it really fit too well.

He wondered what "natural disaster" would befall them. Which, according to Murphy's Law, was right when everything went to shit.

A ringing noise pierced the sky as fissures grew in the ground, swallowing ash and trees into the pitch blackness. Nea's head swam as the trembling grew ever stronger. Something was wrong. Something was very wrong.

Trees fell around him, and the child, who was silently crying, was surrounded by mounds of rubble and ash. The ground grew hot and the air stale as anger and grief thudded in his heart. Tears stung at his eyes, falling as fast as they came. It hurt. Everything hurt. And he was so sad and angry that he almost missed it.

"_Mana_."

Nea paused. Who's voice was that? That couldn't be... It didn't make sense.

A sharp pain made its way through Nea's head and, in his pained haze, he could tell the boy felt it, as well. It was getting harder to breathe. Harder to make sense of things.

Nea forced himself to calm down from the emotions that were, most certainly, not his. It was difficult, to say the least. Like trying to stop an elephant from stomping on you when you pissed it off. Basically impossible unless you had superhuman abilities. Or an adrenaline rush. Both work.

Once he was finally able to think clearly, he evaluated the situation. Obviously, something was wrong in the real world. The entire dreamscape was in shambles. It was similar to trying to stay still during an earthquake. Especially since it was, in fact, an earthquake rocking Nea around like this.

The pain grew harsher and he could barely hear his own thoughts over the ringing in his ears. It sounded like screaming.

He saw a flash of an image.

Another image.

And another again.

Twice more and Nea caught on. These were flashes of his host's memories. Who was this? Not the Allen he knew.

One more came to mind. One he saw long enough to recognize. What happened to everyone? So much has changed.

Mana... That bastard ate him and forgot. What a wonderful brother. Cross? Where the hell is that jackass? What happened to Allen? Timcanpy?

Nea stood straight and turned to the child on the makeshift chair. He's the only one who might know and Nea can actually talk with. Well, the last part's a bit of a stretch, he hasn't spoken at all yet. Yeesh, not gonna be easy. How long has it been now? How long has it been since he woke up here?

Hours?

Days?

Weeks?

Time is a concept that can _kiss his ass_.

Another tremor passed through the imaginary plane, throwing Nea off his balance. He held onto a tree to keep upright, trying his damn best not to face plant into the ashes on the ground.

'These tremors are getting old', was the thought that passed through his mind just before another threw him to the ground.

Nea looked up from the spot he hit, only to see that the disaster got worse right up until it reached the child on the chair. There was maybe a five foot radius left clear around him. He was the host. Different than the few scraps of memory Nea glanced, but there was no doubt about it.

Nah. He couldn't be. Allen was his host. This wasn't Allen.

But all the signs point to this kid. He's the last piece of this world untouched. Probably not for much longer with how the cracks are slowly starting to creep closer.

Fuck. Just his luck. A kid with issues who's not being taken over by the Noah memories. What a strange brat. Those issues will have to be thought of later. Now, the kid's in danger of his "self" collapsing.

"Kid", Nea shouted. "Kid! You gotta snap out of it!"

He inched his way closer, clinging to stronger trees until he reached the one closest. "Kid! You're putting us both in danger here! We're going to die if you don't pull yourself together!"

No response. It almost seemed purposeful. Did he really want to die? From what Nea gathered, Mana took care of him for a bit and then disappeared. He didn't get those last memories.

"You're my nephew, right? You lived with Mana! What would he say about this?! What would he tell you right now?! Seeing you like this?!" The kid blinked his eye slowly.

A sharp pain bloomed in Nea's head as the boy looked a him, and more memories flooded in.

A dog named Allen, who died at a circus (an abysmal, abusive circus of all places). Was it named that because of their Allen? Some semblance of a memory of him?

He was a clown, taught this kid all about it.

He was always searching for him. For Nea. Mana taught the kid the symbols. The symbols for the score. He took care of this kid. He seemingly died for this kid.

He named the kid Allen, too. Fuck.

And he cursed this kid. God, he really cursed this kid _bad_.

"Ma-na... He would..." He paused, the rumbling lessened some as his eye cleared.

"He'd tell me to keep moving... Keep-To keep walking."

"That's right! Please, kid! Look around you, you're falling apart. I don't think he would've wanted that! He'd want you to keep towards the future", Nea exclaimed, not even sure of his own words anymore.

Mana.

Mana was a sore subject. And it hurt to think about the last time he saw him. Hurt to know that Mana forgot what happened. That he forgot who they were.

That he did this to some kid. Probably because he wanted some form of the past back or some other selfish reason.

Nea breathed in deep and let out a sigh full of so many emotions. More than he could accurately express in words. The kid was looking at him fully now, unsure and sad. So very sad. Absolutely crushed and ground into the dirt with more weight than any kid should have on their shoulders.

Maybe Nea could do right where Mana couldn't. He'd be stuck with him either way.

The quakes started to cease and the boy's eyes were clearer than even moments before.

"Hey, nephew. Ready to get up on your own feet again?"

Tears streaked down Allen's face and he bobbed his head. Nea gave a small, sad smile and hugged the little kid close. Mana could be dealt with some other time.

This.

This was Allen. He looked different and couldn't remember them, but, by God, Allen was still his best friend and now he was also his adopted nephew.

Nea was gonna protect this kid or all hell was gonna break loose.

"You're safe, kid. You're fine. You're gonna live."


End file.
